Dan Hesse: Sprint throttles top 1% of unlimited data users

Sprint, a carrier that often touts itself as the only carrier with “truly unlimited” data plans, actually throttles its heaviest data users. Speaking at an investor conference on Thursday, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse admitted that Sprint imposes limits the top 1% of data hogs. “For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off,” Hesse said. The executive explained that Sprint needs to throttle — or slow down the data speeds — of its heaviest users in order to make room for the growing number of smartphone users on its 3G and 4G WiMAX networks. Earlier on Thursday Sprint detailed its first 4G LTE markets, which will roll out in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio during the first half of this year.